RIJF 2023

Omara Portuondo "Vida"

Omara Portuondo is the grand dame of classic Cuban song. Even in her 90s — her seventh

decade of performing — she remains a beloved chanteuse and celebrated entertainer. In

her final performances before retirement, Portuondo will share a retrospective of her life in

music, simply called “Vida.”

Critics and fans alike have marveled at the quality and purity of Portuondo’s prodigious

voice. Her versatility has allowed her to move from one style to another with complete

mastery throughout her career — from jazz to Nueva Trova, Cuban traditional music to

son, danzón, boleros, and more.

Outside of her native Cuba, Portuondo is most recognized for her work with Buena Vista

Social Club. As the story goes: American guitarist Ry Cooder and World Circuit Records

producer Nick Gold visited Havana with for what they called “the Buena Vista sessions” in

1996. Portuondo happened to be working and recording in the same studios and

bandleader Juan de Marcos González invited her to sing. She chose the anthem “Veinte

Años,” duetting with Trova guitarist Compay Segundo, which became the centerpiece of the

album. Buena Vista Social Club went on to sell more than 8 million copies and win the 1998

Grammy Award for Best Traditional Tropical Album and Tropical / Salsa Album of the

Year; the accompanying film won the Best Documentary Feature at the Academy Awards

two years later.

But even before this, Portuondo’s star was secure in the Caribbean and throughout the

Spanish-speaking world. Between the 1950s-’90s, she co-founded the D'Aida Quartet,

became a notable interpreter of the Great American Songbook, and released nearly a dozen

records. Despite the racism, misogyny, revolution, and socio-economic and political

controversies in Cuba during those decades, Portuondo used her voice as a driving force

to celebrate Afro-Cuban music on the island and spread joy and community around

the world.

In the 21st century, Portuondo began to receive the global recognition commensurate with

a career of her stature. She was been awarded prizes, medals, honorary degrees, and more

from around the world, including the laureate of the Order of Félix Varela (the highest

decoration in Cuban culture), the Official Medal of Arts from the French Embassy, and the

Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese Emperor, not to mention a music-specific Latin

Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to Latin American and

world music.

Throughout her storied life and career, Portuondo has used music to connect with fans

in profound and unexpected ways, transcending borders while honoring the soul of

her beloved Cuba. To this day, Portuondo is still referred to as “The Cubanísima Omara

Portuondo”, or “The Diva of Buena Vista.” She is a genuine symbol of her country’s deep

and enduring culture.